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@clew, that's really too bad. But a lot of her books are available as ebooks on Amazon and on archive.org. Of the ebooks available, I'd recommend Summer Darkness, Winter Light-- and for the books on archive.org, I'd recommend Autumn Rose. I hope you enjoy!
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 12:56 PM on February 15, 2024

Ah yes, the Nazi romance based on the book of Esther! I reviewed it here. Also, previously.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 7:11 PM on November 7, 2023

the scene in Dangerous Liaisons where Valmont rejects Mme de Tourvel
directed by Michael Bay
FADE IN:

EXT. LUSH FRENCH ESTATE - DAY

Drone shot zooms in on a sprawling estate, surrounded by fields of wheat that burn GOLDEN under the SUN. Suddenly, a sleek, black LAMBORGHINI HURACAN tears across the screen, kicking up dust and wheat stems.

INT. LAMBORGHINI HURACAN -… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 10:12 PM on November 6, 2023

Hippybear, I'm guessing it was his parents. He was only 20 when he was murdered, so there's a good chance they were still alive.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 11:52 AM on July 14, 2023

Another thing to keep in mind is that the wife would have almost certainly been a teenager. Maybe 15, 16, 17? The most acceptable age for men to get married in ancient Greece was 30, but marrying at younger ages, as my Greek friend M. assures me, wasn't out of the common way. However, women would have been married off in their mid teens, 14-16. If Aphrodisios was 20, "adulteress" in question would have probably been a few years younger.

M. also thinks, from… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 5:04 AM on July 15, 2023

Thanks for the post! Another great site to check out for clinch covers and artist information is Sweet Savage Flame, run by author Jacqueline Diaz.

I've been fascinated by clinch romance covers since I was little, since I saw the illustrated stories in my mother's Good Housekeepings (they used to have romance inserts illustrated by Robert Sabin, among others). Around 1987 or so, I was taken to a used bookstore, run by an eccentric old man in downtown Renton, WA, which… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 3:28 PM on February 10, 2023

No I mean actual balls, as illustrated for the cover of Silks and Sabers by the wonderful Elaine Gignilliat. (There's more information about her at the Sweet Savage Flame page.)
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 12:55 AM on February 11, 2023

Joannemerriam, the original artist for Lady Vixen is none other than the legendary H. Tom Hall. He was incredibly prolific and versatile, hopping from genre from genre. Besides his work for early romance authors, he did covers for tons of books, from gothic horror to historical fiction. One example is Marilyn Harris's Bledding Sorrow; another is Colleen McCullough's First Man in Rome.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 1:12 AM on February 11, 2023

Thank God, it IS set in the early 1970s! I was really worried about a pointless update (I wrote a comment about it in the previous thread). TBH I am not a particular fan of Judy Blume-- I read Blubber when I was 8, and I found it so repellent that it put me off reading any more of her books. The new movie looks fun though. I am very, very happy that I was wrong, and they decided to keep the period setting.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 3:49 PM on January 13, 2023

Bartleby, I was very close to adding the a (hur hur) in my own comment, but I decided not to, for fear it would be too on the nose. :P
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 7:07 PM on January 13, 2023

I'm not sure we have moved past the sexist ideas FTB... YAM was countering 50 years ago. I remember talking to a woman at my shop a few years ago, and suggesting products for her little boy. She was deeply offended that I suggested an aqua and pale orange striped pencil case, because that was much too feminine, and how dare I suggest this for her little boy?! I had to be out of my mind, clearly.

At the time, I… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 11:19 AM on November 26, 2022

inserts popcorn eating gif

At this point we'll need an article about the article. I found the testimony of Littlefeather's sisters compelling, but glancing at Twitter I see they're also Trump supporters. But I don't want to fall into the trap of condemning one and believing the other. That seems... unnuanced. This sounds like a complex situation.

Also seen on Twitter: that Brando cut all ties with her when he found out… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 3:32 PM on October 22, 2022

To add to the trainwreckyness of it all, noted author Susie Bright says that Littlefeather's Latino heritage has been known in Salinas for a very long time.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 4:22 PM on October 22, 2022

I do not relish white people having an opinion about this.

I'm not sure if this is pointed at me or not, but I wish to clarify that I do not actually have an opinion about this. I think the one thing is clear, if an article is to be written about this subject, someone more credible than Keeler should write it.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 4:53 PM on October 22, 2022

Is this why astrology and the zodiac are having a new Renaissance? I don't mind. Discussing Hogwarts houses was tedious (I tried to make myself like it for the sake of HP fans in my life, pre JKR's showing her ass, but now I don't have to, thank God). Discussing the nuances of Gemini ascendancy (my favorite flop sigh) is far more rewarding, IMO. :P
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 9:02 AM on July 26, 2022

Ah yes, the sweet smell of climate doomerism! I understand the impulse, but it is not particularly helpful. Because it makes people give up and do nothing. So perhaps, it might not be a good idea to indulge in this, because we're all trying not to lose our minds in this awful time. Let's be kind to each other, especially on Metafilter.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 1:23 AM on July 20, 2022

Snuffleupagus, you're right. I was inclined to think Red Dawn was old and dusty and forgotten, but I googled "ukraine" + "red dawn" and I got 599,000 hits, with comparisons being made on the latest South Park episode, The Hill, Reddit's Ukraine subreddit, various military websites, and even a screening in Maine with profits going to medical efforts in Ukraine.

I third a new thread! “ I Give My Little Stars to Children” is an excellent suggestion.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 4:10 AM on March 9, 2022

Hmmm, I'm not that impressed by them. The one of Napoleon looks like some schlubby combo of Elijah Wood and Phil Collins. We actually have his death mask, which looks of course just like artwork drawn during his life (not to mention photos of his surviving sons) to have a pretty good idea of what he actually looked like.

So, yeah. I've seen better AI portraits of Napoleon, like this one here.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 1:39 PM on February 21, 2022

So I've always hated Spotify, not for any deep reasons, just because when 8tracks went kaput, I saved a lot of my favorite fan playlists and tried to transfer them to Spotify (as suggested). Unfortunately most of them (like, easily 90% of all the music) did not transfer at all and I got so, SO many error messages. Most of it was 18th century classical music, recreated ancient Roman music, etc. So I figured Spotify was useless, and I hated how ubiquitous it was. I ended up uploading all my… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 2:12 PM on January 31, 2022

Joke's on them, my mom died in 1992!

Twenty years ago I actually owned a copy of Women Who Ran with the Wolves because my therapist recommended it, and I remember vaguely liking it. I have no idea why it's not on this list though. However I am not a mom myself, so I guess it doesn't apply.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 1:43 PM on January 19, 2022

How many people do you know like this??? Not many, I hope!

Dude, I know people who won't watch movies made before 1990! To them, a 1990s movie is ancient. Recently a much younger co-worker described "The Doom Generation" (Rose McGowan, 1995) as a "really old cult classic." I died inside a little, hearing that.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 8:16 PM on January 12, 2022

sciatrix, don't you mean purrfection?

I'll show myself out now
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 3:35 AM on December 15, 2021

This thread was SOOOO interesting and thanks to Too-Ticky's tip here, I made the first ever home fries in my life!

I chopped up a bunch of red potatoes and an onion, microwaved them on a plate uncovered for 4 minutes in my 700 watt microwave, fried them in olive oil, and halfway during the cooking time I added a frozen schnitzel from Aldi. I added butter to make it more tasty and salt and pepper. When I was done, I added a heaping helping of fresh spinach to get in some… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 11:04 PM on November 15, 2021

I'm commenting very late in the thread, but wow, it's been a fascinating ride, with so many great comments! The twitter account @kidneygate has uncovered many aspects of this case, and directed me to a Reddit writeup of this case here, which I highly recommend if anyone hasn't seen it yet.

Now the story, via the Reddit write-up, has hit Chinese social media, and oh boy, the comments are, by and large, NOT favorable to Larson. Some find Dorland "theatrical" and… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 3:30 PM on October 20, 2021

Goingonit, it IS a reference to The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas! I was actually talking to the original commenter on Reddit, and they said they even translated the story into Chinese. The translation can be found here, with an introduction:

最近的“肾瓜”事件（bad art friends, aka, kidney gate）让我第一时间就想起了厄休拉·勒古恩的这篇短篇小说，《离开欧梅拉斯的人》，于是索性把它翻译了贴出来。其实最初发微博说的乌托邦的比喻就是从这篇小说来的，然而似乎只有一个人发现了其出处。当然这篇小说也有其灵感来源，说白了这篇小说是在美国哲学家William James在《The Moral Philosopher and the Moral… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 6:33 PM on October 20, 2021

The...corn harvest? What?

It's a reference to an (alleged?) ancient pagan practice of sacrificing young women to ensure a good harvest, like in Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. It's implied that Spears is the sacrifice.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 5:47 AM on June 23, 2021

Flabdablet, I can't favorite your comment enough.... <3
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 2:05 AM on April 15, 2021

Mike de Bonis:

And there it is from @StaceyPlaskett -- the clearest explanation for why no witnesses: "Other individuals who may have been there with the president were not friendly...to us and would have required subpoenas and months of litigation."
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 2:36 PM on February 13, 2021

Ignorantsavage, thank you for the cogent summary, and your phrase "The Indo-European Pale Penis People Invasion Hypothesis" made me laugh SO MUCH.

On a related question, I actually asked about the Gimbutas hypothesis on Ask Metafilter here a few years ago. After it has been so thoroughly and allegedly "discredited," apparently... it has some basis in fact!? Wow! I'm... not sure how to feel about that.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 3:47 AM on December 9, 2020

I loved... LOVED... Shel Silverstein as a kid, but I. could. not. get. into. the Giving Tree. I mean, it was fine. I guess if I was pressed I would have said the guy was pushy and the tree was pathetic, but it didn't even interest me enough to have an opinion about it.

However, I do find Giving Tree fanfic deeply fascinating, especially the Daniel Lavery story posted upthread. (The Giving Tree as a horror story! How wonderful!)

And I did read… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 5:40 AM on November 16, 2020

What species of cat is this supposed to be? Domestic cats didn't come to the Americas until the Columbian Exchange, so I guess this could be whatever cat is native to Peru. So it could possibly be the ocelot, the puma, the jaguar or the Andean mountain cat, or maybe some other species of cat I'm missing. I'm also wondering, does this have any religious significance?
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 1:30 PM on October 19, 2020

Thank you so much for this post, and for the recommendation of A WIZARD'S GUIDE TO DEFENSIVE BAKING. It was so delightful-- thrilling, with great characterization, lots of heart and many laugh-out-loud moments. I binge read it in a day, and then I subscribed to the Patreon so I could get all her free books (thank you restless_nomad). I can't wait to read all of them!
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 4:12 PM on October 12, 2020

Thanks for the link, affectionateborg. Amaral's work is amazing!!
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 3:20 PM on July 21, 2020

Oh man, Ian Holm is dead? :( :( :(

Anyway, I watched Napoleon and Love back in April, and I admit I did not like it at all. (A friend of mine who owned the DVDs said he didn't want them anymore, and I asked him to send them to me, and... well, he did warn me.) I found it ponderous, dragging and anti-climactic. But Holm managed to do the best he could with the terrible script. Apparently it was supposed to be more of a high budget production about the… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 1:10 PM on June 19, 2020

I'm a big romance novel fan myself, jenfullmoon, so I kind of wish that myself. It definitely has potential as a really cool entry in the historical romance genre. Maybe about a fictionalized late 19th century American president and his penpal...?
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 5:05 AM on May 6, 2020

I was chatting with Emma about anti-vegetarian and vegan rage, and relating some of my own experiences, when some guy accused me of being ONE OF THOSE vegans. He even compared veganism to "white supremacy."

It is truly a special moment, and one where I can thank the fine folks of Metafilter.

Maybe I can piss off the French monarchists next? I'm feeling ambitious!
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 11:08 PM on March 8, 2020

Thank you so much for this post! I fell down a rabbit hole and I read these comics for hours... many of them are HILARIOUS. I especially liked this one and this one (check out the last panel). Her punchlines and timing are great. (It's also educational!)
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 3:37 AM on January 16, 2020

Oh God, this reminds me how I had the world's most disgusting lunches for years on end. Slimy baloney cold-cuts between cheap brown bread and mayonnaise. UGH.

I ended up having to make my own lunches by junior high: I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for 3 years, non stop. I did not have much imagination. I feel that during most of my childhood and adolescence, food was something to be endured, rather than something to enjoy. Anyway, it took me YEARS to shake off… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 9:49 PM on January 7, 2020

That was good! Gripping! Dystopian but believable! And JUDE LAW! (With eerie eye effects.) Give me more, please!
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 9:30 PM on December 27, 2019

I actually didn't know that about the California grizzlies, and I've been living here 20 years. How did I miss this?

*reads wikipedia*

So the last one was killed in 1922. That's depressing.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 8:31 PM on December 4, 2019

God, this is all so ugly. Some people have apologized, like the Fuggirls bloggers (and it was a genuine apology too).

However, N.K. Jemisin has just doubled down, and has continued to attack the college student in question, as well as anyone asking that she apologize.

A friend of mine has recently left Twitter because of things like this, and this makes me want to leave Twitter as well.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 8:24 PM on November 15, 2019

Sorry, aramaic. The link IS wrong! This is what I meant to link to-- this tweet, and the thread that follows.

N. K. Jemisin @nkjemisin
Replying to @mondilator
If the student is being harassed, that should definitely be condemned! But being a student does not exempt this person from basic politeness expectations, or from critique if their publicly-stated reasons for excluding an artist's work are problematic. Welcome to adulthood.
8:54 AM · Nov 13, 2019·Twitter Web App
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 8:43 PM on November 15, 2019

I find the "ok boomer" meme amusing and to the point, and I personally want to say this to the conservative baby boomers in my life who won't shut up about how terrible young people are. Blah blah blah antifa snowflakes SJW fake news climate change isn't real blah blah blah... OH GOD SHUT UP YOU'RE RICH AND YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GOOD YOU HAVE IT! FUCK OFF

Anyway, speaking of ageist insults for women, some random guy, at my shop, who was probably my age or a bit… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 10:37 AM on November 3, 2019

I hated the way season 8 ended, and I was a huge defender of the show for years. "Just wait until it ends!" I kept saying. Well, it turns out they didn't know what they're doing. Ugh!

But, as the months pass, I've come to terms with the showing ending the way it did. It had a good run. And like it or not, they did manage to finish out the series, for better or worse. I think it's hard to come up with really great satisfying ends to… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 11:40 PM on October 27, 2019

You know what, just out of curiosity, I'd like to see everybody's list of stuff that's as cool as the X-Files, the Matrix, et al, but that stayed good all the way to the end.

I want to hear recommendations for live-action series that stuck the ending; nothing animated. (Not that animated shows aren't great, but for some reason the scripting seems to be stronger.)
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 4:00 PM on October 29, 2019

Okay!

So far, so live-action shows with satisfying endings, we have votes for DEEP SPACE NINE; THE AMERICANS; and CHERNOBYL. One is SF/space opera-- and the other two are historical drama (contemporary historical drama?). Both are pretty far from GOT's fantasy/sword and sorcery stuff, but hey, it's interesting to see what people come up with.

I personally think Taye Digg's one-season show DAY BREAK is pretty amazing. That's prodecural/drama/time… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 4:24 PM on October 29, 2019

I also loved SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND, and at the time, I thought that had a pretty strong ending, though I probably wouldn't rewatch because the lead actor died of cancer during the show and to be recast. :(
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 4:28 PM on October 29, 2019

Well, this really, really sucks. I'm part of several mailing groups on Yahoo. The most active is the mailing list for my publishing house, a small company out of Canada. We've tried locating discussion to other pages but it never seems to stick.

We absolutely need to find a new groups page, though. I wonder what the admin is going to do.
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 7:21 PM on October 16, 2019

Thanks for the amazing post, Katra! I was wondering when this would be discussed on Metafilter.

Greg Olear, author of DIRTY RUBLES: AN INTRODUCTION TO TRUMP/RUSSIA, also has a great thread on Twitter about this very thing, and he discusses the timeline here:

Below is a timeline of recent, relevant events (h/t @operativexray & @patricklsimpson for the initial timelines I’m expanding on):

7/28: Dan Coats, the… [more]
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 12:15 PM on September 19, 2019

I meant to say, "why HAS this person also written lurid historical fiction"-- ugh.

Anyway, after I brought up this point on Twitter, the former tech editor from the Guardian suggested to me that the book in question was actually an undercover code book, like in Three Days of the Condor.

So yeah.

The story just gets progressively more Byzantine...
posted to MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 5:39 AM on September 2, 2019